CHINESE ABSTRCT

本研究旨在檢視慢速語速和逐漸加快語速對於台灣大學生聽力理解的影響。此研究實行兩個階段的實驗，分別為第一階段的慢速語速實驗和第二階段的逐漸加快語速實驗。
在第一階段的實驗中，研究對象是60名國立師範大學的學生。所有研究對象依照其前測的成績分成A組、B組和C組接受聽力測驗；此三組的聽力測驗以不同的語速播放，語速分別為:A組的「過慢語速」 (每分鐘130字以下)、B組的「慢語速」 (每分鐘130到150字)、和C組的「正常語速」(每分鐘150到170字)。而參加第二階段的實驗是23名國立師範大學的學生，所有研究對象分成D組和E組兩個訓練組別。此兩組聆聽一樣的聽力文本，但文本由不同的語速模式播放。D組聆聽「逐漸加快」語速，而E組聆聽「正常語速」。兩組的訓練皆為期四個禮拜，受試者一天聽一則新聞，一個禮拜聽五天。每一組一個禮拜會做一次集體的聽力練習。此練習中，受訓的同學需要在聽完一則新聞之後做自由回想。訓練結束後，每一位受訓者接受同樣正常語速的聽力測驗。整個實驗在半結構式訪談後結束。
研究結果摘要如下:
一. 和正常語速相較，每分鐘130字以下的過慢語速對英語聽力理解的幫助顯著。
二. 以內容主旨的聽力表現而言，逐漸加快語速對學生的幫助比正常語速的幫助顯著；但對於細節內容的聽力表現而言，逐漸加快語速和正常語速並無顯差異。
三. 在接受逐漸加快語速訓練的四個受試者中，只有一位有察覺語速的變化，此顯示語言學習者對於語速變化的感知能力是不足的。
根據研究的結果，英語老師可以將語速放慢至過慢語速以有效增進學生對真實新聞的聽力理解。而在增進學生聽力能力的訓練上，老師可以藉由逐漸加快的語速來幫助學生理解主旨的聽力能力。最後，由於結果顯示語言學習者對於語速變化的感知能力不足，語速實驗的研究者藉用語言學習者的感官來判別語速的快慢證明是不恰當的研究方法。

ENGLISH ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the effects of the slowed-down speech rate and the gradually-increasing speech rate on Taiwanese college students’ listening comprehension. Experiments were conducted in two phases; the effects of the slowed-down speech rate were examined in the first phase of the experiments, whereas the effects of the gradually-increasing speech rate were explored in the second phase of the experiments.
Sixty college students in National Taiwan Normal University took part in the first phase of the experiments. These participants, based on their pretest scores, were divided into three groups (Group A, B, and C) and took the same listening comprehension test delivered at different speech rates. Group A listened to the passages with a slower-than-normal speech rate (below 130 wpm), Group B listened to the passages with a moderately slow speech rate (130 to 150 wpm), and Group C listened to the passages with an average speech rate (150 to 170 wpm). Concerning the second phase of the experiments, 23 college students in National Taiwan Normal University were recruited. The participants were divided into two training groups, Group D and Group E, and listened to the same passages delivered at different speech rate conditions. Group D listened to the passage with a gradually-increasing speech rate while Group E listened to the passages with a consistent average speech rate. During the four week training, participants listened to one entry of news uploaded on a Web log five days a week and met once a week to conduct in-class listening on a group basis. During the in-class listening, participants were required to do free recall after listening to one news entry. A listening comprehension test delivered at the average speech rate was administered at the end of the training. A semi-structured interview concluded the entire training program. Major findings of the study are summarized as below.
First, a slower-than-normal speech rate (below 130 WPM) resulted in the greatest enhancement of listening comprehension compared to the average speech rate. Second, the gradually-increasing speech rate, compared to steady average speech rate, has a stronger facilitative effect on improving participants’ listening ability of listening for the gist. Regarding listening for detail, no significant difference was revealed between the gradually-increasing speech rate and the average speech rate. Third, three of the four participants under the gradually-increasing speech rate were not aware of the change of the speech rate, suggesting that language learners’ perceptions of speech rate are not reliable.
Results of this study showed that English teachers could slow down the speech rate of authentic news to slower-than-normal speech rate to effectively enhance listeners’ listening comprehension levels. With regard to the training intended to improve students’ listening performances, the gradually-increasing speech rate could be adopted to improve listeners’ ability to listen for the gist. Finally, researchers of rate studies were informed that it is a problematic, illegitimate approach to categorize the speech rate based on listeners’ perceptions.

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